THE LAST POINT: Blessed relief after nervous day

When you feel you're heart thumping about a mile a minute and we've still got over 15 minutes of normal time left on the clock during last Sunday's Lidl LGFA NFL Division 4 Semi-Final in Elphin's Orchard Park, you come to the realisation that you're definitely  invested in the outcome - at least that what I was telling myself as I counted my pulse almost by sound!

We in the press corp tend to value our ability to stay dispassionate; it is  a required skill actually because if you're going to describe something and not get caught up in the heat of the moment, you've got to keep your wits -  if you have any that is - about you and not lose your cool. The sang-froid of the Press box is a legendary attribute we prize above all else or else you'll just burn yourself out!

Truth be told, notions of impartiality and inscrutability go out the window - when you follow a team regularly on a particular beat, be it an Ireland soccer or rugby scribe, a golf journalist following McIlroy or Lowry or any of the countless journalists working in local media following their county's gaelic games heroes, we tend to become invested in how our subjects  perform and what they achieve.

Witness the debate over Michael Murphy that is taking over social media since Sunday's Division 1 League Final - to all Donegal people, he is simply a God and may actually be regarded as the greatest Donegal footballer ever, and that is saying something. To impugn his reputation is to insult Donegal people everywhere I'd imagine but, to Kerry folk, he might just be regarded with the same venom reserved for, say, a Philly Mac Mahon! 

We're supposed to be above all that in the Press box but I've witnessed pens being flung across press boxes, petty arguments over respective counties break out and even a few undignified yells of celebration when 'your' team wins - I've been guilty of all that when it comes to Leitrim teams down through the years - so much for professional decorum.

THE LAST POINT: LEARNING TO EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED

But last Sunday was another roller coaster of emotions in the stands so I can't fathom how the players, the management and their families must have felt as the Ladies team finally ended their Division 4  bogey. Nerves were apparent all over the place and while a win is a win is a win, I'm sure the Sligo players are wondering just how they let this game get away from them. 

Both sides missed  chances but Sligo certainly had the more glaring misses and I'm sure we all had our hearts in our mouths when the Yeatswomen fashioned one late goal chance deep into added time of extra-time, a fisted effort that would have given Sligo a one-point victory and broken Leitrim hearts completely had Martina Gallagher not saved the ball.

We talked last week of how the psychological element of  sport is every bit as important as physical conditioning and pure skills. Sligo came with a game plan, designed to negate Leitrim's deep lying defence - Jonny Garrity's side excel in inviting teams onto them, breaking them down and then cutting loose at speed to feed the Green & Gold's dangerous forwards.

But Sligo went against the grain - they always had  another defender back to mind the house along with the trio marking Leitrim's three forwards and they played the ball with almost monotonous ease over and back before dashing in to apply the finish for scores. Sligo's trouble, unfortunately for them, is that they lacked a true killer instinct that might have won them the game.

On far less real chances, Leitrim created two goals out of nothing and while Sligo might quibble with the decisions of referee Gerard Canny that led to a penalty and an advantage that saw Leitrim advance 50 yards up the field, Leitrim possessed that killer instinct that Sligo don't quite have at this moment - they are a young team who are going to be formidable opposition down the line but they're still developing.

Leitrim are a lot further along down the line - Jonny Garrity could withdraw captain Michelle Guckian as well as Vivienne Egan and Rachel McIntyre who had been among the better performers for the Green & Gold and his side didn't miss a beat, Ailbhe Clancy, Sarah Reynolds, goal machine Kate Gormley and Chloe Dolan make big contributions on the day.

That takes time - two years ago when the Mary Quinn Cup was brought home, Garrity had what amounted to a 22-24 strong squad and it wasn't unusual for no more than two subs to see action in the big games. Leitrim's depth, even with the considerable loss of the Bruen sisters, Orla Flynn, Clare Owens, Michelle Monaghan and Aine Redican, has got deeper and stronger and we saw that last Sunday in Elphin.

Did Leitrim ride their luck at times? Of course they did but I've yet to see a team that ever won anything that didn't! Do they have a lot of work to do ahead of a meeting with a Carlow team who are just as well versed in that cautious possession based football and have a set of forwards able to capitalise on the sort of chances Sligo failed to take? That's a definite yes but there is one big difference going into the Final - and that is the pressure is off!

When players admit that Leitrim's long battle to escape Division 4 was on their minds so much so that some told Jonny Garrity that they wouldn't retire until it had been achieved, the liberation from that oppressive yoke has got to be mind altering (although on a slightly different tack, I hope some of the team's veterans are not thinking of hanging up their boots!).

Will they play with more abandon and less pressure? One would certainly hope so but nothing is ever easy as Leitrim found out against Louth and Antrim in the League Finals of 2021 and 2023 and no more than last Sunday, possessing the talent, the players and the structures to win a League title is all well and good until you actually go out and win a League title.

THE LAST POINT: IT REALLY IS THE HOPE THAT KILLS YOU!

I won't get into the whole clash between the League Final and Leitrim's Connacht SFC clash with Sligo in Markievicz Park on Sunday April 12 - right now, it seems redundant to point out all the ways that doesn't make any sense and the potential clash has been flagged for a long, long time. The only thing that is certain is that these fixture clashes are as sure as night following day!  

Finally, can't let the column go by without a mention of Elphin's Orchard Park - it is a venue well familiar to Leitrim fans down through the years. Who can forget Aughawillan dismantling a highly rated Strokestown in the Connacht Club in the early 90s or various underage, club, county and school games that the famed venue has hosted down through the years.

It has been a few years since I crossed the threshold, so to speak, in Orchard Park but what a transformation - a lovely stand is the most eye-catching feature but all around the ground, there have been countless improvements from expanded parking, an astro turf area and extended facilities and there aren't too many clubs in Leitrim who could boast a second field quite a big as what Elphin have at their disposal.

Elphin GAA rolled out the red carpet for the League Semi Final and did a wonderful job but  their club grounds should be on the visiting list for any Leitrim club that is thinking of developing their grounds themselves and get an idea of what might be possible!